Try Bellinger as an Adult

This letter is in response to The Times’ March 14 article about Joey Bellinger, the 16-year-old accused of gunning down two men in Granada Hills on Jan. 28.

Once again we see a situation in which victims’ rights may be pushed aside so that the court can sympathize with the accused. One can understand the defense attorney’s plea not to try Bellinger as an adult; however, the severity of the crime and the witnesses’ accounts regarding lack of remorse on the part of Bellinger removes any sympathy from my mind. If it is true that the youth “remains traumatized by the 1987 murder of his older sister,” then it is inexplicable why he would want to inflict that kind of trauma onto another family.

I live not five minutes from the intersection of Devonshire Street and Balboa Boulevard. It amazes me that such a heinous shooting could have occurred within my own residential community. It terrifies me that there is a preschool just half a block from the crime scene. Carrying a gun on one’s person may be seen as a juvenile act but choosing to use it is an adult decision, especially when it results in a man’s death. I hope Judge Morton Rochman will agree with me on May 16 and Joey Bellinger will be tried as an adult.

COLLEEN O’MARA

Granada Hills